Vs. Theatre Company to Present COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS, 4/24-6/1

VS. THEATRE COMPANY has announced its first production in its permanent new theatre, COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS, written and directed by Ron Klier. COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS will preview on Wednesday, April 24 & Thursday, April 25 at 8pm and will open on Friday, April 26 at 8pm and run through Saturday, June 1 at the new home of VS. Theatre Company (the former Black Dahlia Theatre), 5453 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles.

COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS is a classic morality play, as much about what's right and wrong, as it is a thrilling moment-to-moment suspense-fueled ride. It introduces us to five men: Paul, Dom, Emmett, Sal, and Roosevelt. Men of different ages and life experiences. On this night Paul walks into the bar with a secret. Dom, the bartender, just wants to get through his shift. Roosevelt's had just about enough of his partner Sal's bullying sense of humor. So begins this world premiere play occurring roughly in real-time about regret, loss, explicit and implicit racism, and wrestling with masculine identity in constantly-changing contemporary America.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

Ron Klier (Playwright/Director) recently directed The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute for the VS. Theatre Company at the Ford Theatre in Los Angeles (voted Reader's Choice Production of the Year in Backstage). Other directing credits include Blackbird by Adam Rapp for the VS. Theatre Company, which was nominated for three Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Awards and three LA Weekly Awards, and was named one of LA Weekly's Ten Best Productions of 2009, The Traveling Companion by Tennessee Williams for the New American Theatre, the West Coast Premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's Happy Birthday/I'm Dead at the Elephant Theatre, the West Coast Premiere of Brett Neveu's Eagle Hills, Eagle Ridge, Eagle Landing, a joint production between the VS. Theatre Company and Range View Productions at the Hayworth Theatre, John Kolvenbach's On An Average Day, a joint production between the VS. Theatre and Route 66 Theatre Companies, in Los Angeles and Chicago, Foolish Heart by Steve Yockey, as part of The Car Plays at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and Shampooed by Fielding Edlow as part of The Car Plays/Radar L.A. Festival. Writer-director credits include: Battleship and Last Chance Gas for Moving Arts Theatre, Tranny for Little BiRD Productions, and Waste of Shame for the VS. Theatre Company. Ron's short plays Lunch and Am I Losin' premiered in 2012 and 2013 as part of The Car Plays at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts. His plays Pigs in Zen and Potatoes have received productions at the Generic Theater in Virginia, the Gorilla Theatre in Kansas City, and Moving Arts Theatre in Los Angeles. His short play The Straightenerouter received a production as part of the Abbie Hoffman Died For Your Sins Theatre Festival in Chicago and again in Chicago as part of Wicker Park Nights at the Room Opera, and his plays Dirt and Gender Studies have received productions at the Elephant and Whitefire Theatres. Ron is the Resident Director of the VS. Theatre Company.

The cast of COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS features (in alphabetical order): Rolando Boyce, Johnny Clark, Andrew Hawkes, Paul Vincent O'Connor and Gareth Williams.

COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS features an award-winning design team. Production Design is by Danny Cistone. Lighting Design is by Derrick McDaniel. The Sound Design is by Ron Klier. The Costume Design is by Gelareh Khalioun. The Violence Design is by Ned Mochel. The Make-up Design is by Justine Vickery. The Production Stage Manager is Tommy Dunn. COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS is produced by Andrew Carlberg and Johnny Clark.
ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING

COPS AND FRIENDS OF COPS will preview on Wednesday, April 24 & Thursday, April 25 at 8pm and will open on Friday, April 26 at 8pm and run through Saturday, June 1 at the new home of VS. Theatre Company (the former Black Dahlia Theatre), 5453 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm.

Ticket prices are $25.00 for all performances. Preview Tickets are $15.00. Tickets are available online at www.vstheatre.org or www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 323-739-4411.

VS. Theatre Company, a Not-For-Profit 501c-(3) Public Benefit Corporation, is a small, dedicated group of passionate artists devoted to producing original works and Los Angeles Premieres by the best contemporary playwrights in America. VS. was founded in 2004 based on a passion for riveting stories and live performance in an intimate setting. Recently named "one of the top theatre companies of the last decade" by the LA Weekly, VS. has produced or co-produced major contemporary playwrights including John Patrick Shanley, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Adam Rapp, Itamar Moses, and Neil LaBute. To date, VS. has produced or co-produced fourteen plays. Standouts include: the West Coast Premere of Keith Bunin's The Credeaux Canvas, which ran for nearly six months and played to sold out houses every night; In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (a co-production with The Elephant Theatre Company), named Best Production by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle in 2008; On An Average Day, produced in Los Angeles and Chicago, garnering Critic's Choice in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Backstage, and won or was nominated for several Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Joseph Jefferson Awards; Blackbird by Adam Rapp which was nominated for three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards including two for Best Lead Actor and three LA Weekly Awards including Best Production.

Most recently, The Los Angeles Premiere of Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat, a co-production with the Ford Theatre as part of the Ford's prestigious 2011 [Inside] The Ford Winter Partnership Program. The Mercy Seat won two Backstage Reader's Choice Awards for Outstanding Performance and Production, won or was nominated for several LA Weekly Awards, and was voted a "Top Ten of The Year" by the Los Angeles Times.

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